Projectile for ordnance.



UNIT STATES ATENT OFFICE,

BALrzARs LIDE MARE, or PHILADELPHIA, PENNSYLVANIA.

APROJEGTILE Fo'RoRDNANcE'.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters rem No. 660.581. dated. October 30,1900

kpplimtion filed Apt-i124. 1899.

To, all whom it may concern:

Beitknown that LBan'rzsnE. L. DE MARE, a subject of the King of Sweden and Norway, residing in Philadelphia,Pennsylvania, have invented certain Improvements in Projectiles for Ordnance,of which the followingis a specification.

)ue object of my invention is to so construct a projectile for ordnance as to combine inone compound shell the penetrating power of an. armor-piercing shell and 'the mine power of a common explosive shell, 2, further object being to increase the penetrating power of the armor-pie'rcim, portion of the shell. These objects 1 attain in the manner hereinafter set forth, reference being bad to the accompanying drawings, in which- Figure 1 is a longitudinal section of a combined armor-piercing and common shell constructed -in accordancewith my invention, and Fig. 2 is an end view of the same. Fig. 3 is a sectional view of an ordinary navy percussiou or impact fuse used in the base portion of my projectile.

The shell shown in Fig. 1 comprises two main parts 1 and 53, the part- 1 being the armor-piercingforward section and the part 2 being the explosive sectiomwhich is of greater diameter than the armor-piercing section 1 and is intended to titthe bore of the gun, this portion of the shell being preferably provided with the usual rotating band 3.

The armor-piercing forward portionl of the shell fits into'a recess in the forward end of the portion 2 and is seatedat' its inner end against an internal shoulder 4, formed in said port-ion 2 of the shell at the base of said recess', said shoulder 4 constituting the forward termination of a beveled and contracted neck 5 at the forward'end of the chamber 6, which isiutended to receive the explosive contents of the shell. the rear end of said chamber b'c lug closed by a plug 7, which has a central threaded opening 8 for the reception of the {use orprim er 13 of ordinary percussion-base fuse type- Such, for example, as that used in the United States Navy-whereby the exlosivecontents of the shell are fired at the time of impact;

In Fig; 3 I have shown one form of an ordinary impact fuse, (a navy percuss on 'fuse,) in which Se ial Bo. 71%240. No model,

closed by a screwpl ng 15, 14 a brass cyl writh which cylinder is a solid plunger 1 ported by'a brittle wire 18, passing tl the cylinder 14 and into the side of the gent-he latter havinga firing-nipple 1'4, ed to explode a fulminate l6 over a surmount-lug the perforation leading explosive charge of the shell. Upon i of the projectile the wire 18 is broken, ing the plunger 19 to be forcibly 1 againstthe bottom of the fuse, causi nipple 17 to explode lhe fulminate flame from which passes through the p tion in' the screw-plug 15 to the shell 'lhe pointed end of the aruionpierci tion 1 oi" the shell has the usual sof nose 9, and said portion 1 of the shell i tainedi'n its proper position in the pc by means of a plug 10, which close'sa be! 11, formed in said portion 1 of th and which may, if desired, container; material-adapted to be fired by mea suitable time or delayed-action primer contained in a central threade ing 12 of said plug 10. The plug 101i nallythreaded, so as to be screwed i 4 threaded rear end of the chamber 11, 2 plug 10 has a flange at its rear end externally for adaptation to the here contracted neck 5 of the portion 20f tl Hence when the plug 10 is screwed in tion in the rear end of the portion shell it will confine thesame firmlyto tion 2, but will permit it to be dri Wardly therefrom when suflicient pre exerted to strip that portion of th which is in engagement. with the neo When my improved compound shel an armor-plate, the initial momentu shell is at first exerted to drive tht piercing portion 1 into the plate, an diameter of said armor-piercing p less than that of the bore of the g which the projectile has been discha compound shell will have smaller re to overcome than the ordinary ful shell; In other words, the shell n the momentum of, say, a twelve-in while its armor-piercing portion have to overcome resistance to pet met with by, say, an eight-inch 81 13 is the hollow body of the fuse,

soon as the point of the shell strikes the explosive in the chamber 6 of the shell is bred, and the energy developed by such explosion effects a double result. In the first place it retards the mov'ementof the nonpenetrating portion 2 of the shell and-imparts a corresponding forward impulse to the armorpiercing portion 1, thus transferring all or about-all of the momentum of the whole shell to the armor-piercing portion thereof, and, secondly, as the pressure due to the explosion still'further increases it effects the burst-- ing and scattering of the portion 2 of the shell, so that not only does the improved shell possess the qualities both of an armorp ercing shell acting by penetration with or without subsequent; explosion and of a common shell acting by explosion without penetration; but the arm or-piercing portion of the shell having iess resistance to overcome than an ordinary armor-piercing shell, with approximately thesaine momentum, will have a greater penetratingpower than theo'rdinary full-caliber shell.

When the chamber 11 of the armor-pierclug shell is filled with explosive, said armorp ercing portion may be caused to burst when it has attained its full penetration, thereby still further increasing the destructive effect of the shelL- ent- l. The combination in a projectile for ordnance, of an armor piercing forward portion and an explosive rear portion detachablyconnected one to the other, the forward portion serving, as a plug for closing the explosivecontaining chamber in the rear portion and havinga rigid bearing upon the rear portion in prevent movement of said forward portion 40 into'the rear portion, and an impact fuse for exploding the charge in the rear portion of the shell whereby the forward or armor-piercing portion will be given an additional impulse upon impact, substantially as specified.

2. A combined armor-piercing and explo sive projectile consisting of a forward armorpiercing portion and a rearportion containinga chamber for explosive material and having a recess in which. said forward portion of the projectile is seated, and av plug carried by said forward portion of the projectile and having a portion en'gaging'with 'a contracted neck in the rear portion of the same, so as to retain the two oortiuns of the projectile in proper relative position, sub stantially as specified. In testimony whereof I have signed my name to this specification inthe presence of two subscribing witnesses.

BALTZAR E. L. DE MARE. Witnesses:

F. E. BECHTOLD, J08. H. KLEIN. 

